Copper's Heating/Selling Well on Ebay 33 33

[jcjames]

Little rough on Overstreet aren't we? The guide is conservative for a reason.

Maybe they just need a website and collaboration with a publisher to fit in these days. It has to be frustrating for them. I remember the days of getting the OS just to read the monthly sales section from retailers.

 

I too drool though when a seller pulls out Overstreet on a modern book.

[Lazyboy]

Little rough on Overstreet aren't we?

 

Not at all. They only publish annually, so there is no excuse to be out of touch with reality by many years on enough issues to fill... a large annual book.

 

The guide is conservative for a reason.

 

Conservative like when a run is actually priced properly in an edition of the Guide and then, years later, real prices for those issues have remained flat but the Guide prices have mysteriously increased?

 

If they're going to ignore real changes, they can't include fake changes.

 

Maybe they just need a website and collaboration with a publisher to fit in these days. It has to be frustrating for them. I remember the days of getting the OS just to read the monthly sales section from retailers.

 

They certainly need something.

 

I too drool though when a seller pulls out Overstreet on a modern book.

 

Exactly. But it's not like the older prices are really any better in terms of accuracy.

 

[fastballspecial]

Little rough on Overstreet aren't we?

 

Not at all. They only publish annually, so there is no excuse to be out of touch with reality by many years on enough issues to fill... a large annual book.

 

The guide is conservative for a reason.

 

Conservative like when a run is actually priced properly in an edition of the Guide and then, years later, real prices for those issues have remained flat but the Guide prices have mysteriously increased?

 

If they're going to ignore real changes, they can't include fake changes.

 

Maybe they just need a website and collaboration with a publisher to fit in these days. It has to be frustrating for them. I remember the days of getting the OS just to read the monthly sales section from retailers.

 

They certainly need something.

 

I too drool though when a seller pulls out Overstreet on a modern book.

 

Exactly. But it's not like the older prices are really any better in terms of accuracy.

 

You do realize the difficulty of doing this right? Real time data is impossible unless you charge for the service like GPA does. All they do is publish an annual price guide which honestly I can see going the way of the dinosaur in the next few years. I just buy one every few years and usually a year behind to have a research tool handy.

 

I understand your point, but understand the monster Overstreet has become. I wouldn't want the nightmare of deciding which values to increase and which to stagnate. Personally I don't think they paid enough attention to their market updates for years. Even when they were quarterly I thought they didn't pay enough attention to their dealer reports.

 

Its always been my understanding Overstreet is conservative in its values to help price stabilization and to give a starting value or a book. While now Overstreet really has almost out used its usefulness, I don't think anyone can doubt their contribution to the growth of our hobby.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2016 by Fastballspecial

[divad]

Determining the true current fair market value of an issue is something we all struggle with on a day-to-day basis. Not to be out done by the "the flip".

[aerischan]

Determining the true current fair market value of an issue is something we all struggle with on a day-to-day basis. Not to be out done by the "the flip".

Alas, comics are relatively illiquid and the bid/ask spread can be pretty huge.

 

Mind, I think the internet has helped increase liquidity and reduce the bid/ask spread since there's now a much larger pool of buyers and sellers one is able to reach.

[ygogolak]

Determining the true current fair market value of an issue is something we all struggle with on a day-to-day basis. Not to be out done by the "the flip".

Alas, comics are relatively illiquid and the bid/ask spread can be pretty huge.

 

Mind, I think the internet has helped increase liquidity and reduce the bid/ask spread since there's now a much larger pool of buyers and sellers one is able to reach.

 

Right, and yet divad still gets top dollar.

[divad]

Determining the true current fair market value of an issue is something we all struggle with on a day-to-day basis. Not to be out done by the "the flip".

Alas, comics are relatively illiquid and the bid/ask spread can be pretty huge.

 

Mind, I think the internet has helped increase liquidity and reduce the bid/ask spread since there's now a much larger pool of buyers and sellers one is able to reach.

 

Right, and yet divad still gets top dollar.

 

Well, it's all about delivering very high quality product . . . time and time again, with very large scans and a full refund guarantee.

[divad]

Btw, I haven't had a refund or return in soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long, I can't remember.

[ygogolak]

[valiantman]

Since it has been repeatedly argued that "newsstand" isn't important, I suppose this must be a completely unexpected example of "Copper Heating/Selling Well": http://www.ebay.com/itm/252619622987

 

60% higher than GPA because it has a barcode.

[the blob]

Since it has been repeatedly argued that "newsstand" isn't important, I suppose this must be a completely unexpected example of "Copper Heating/Selling Well": http://www.ebay.com/itm/252619622987

 

60% higher than GPA because it has a barcode.

 

Nobody has argued it isn't important to some collectors who obviously pay more for some of them. Some people question the sanity of paying a huge premium for a barcode. I mean, seriously, it's not like a 3d printing of a comic where the background color on the cover is different, now THAT is something worth spending an extra $800 for. Barcodes are dumb. Background colors are kewl.

[revat]

Since it has been repeatedly argued that "newsstand" isn't important, I suppose this must be a completely unexpected example of "Copper Heating/Selling Well": http://www.ebay.com/itm/252619622987

 

60% higher than GPA because it has a barcode.

 

Nobody has argued it isn't important to some collectors who obviously pay more for some of them. Some people question the sanity of paying a huge premium for a barcode. I mean, seriously, it's not like a 3d printing of a comic where the background color on the cover is different, now THAT is something worth spending an extra $800 for. Barcodes are dumb. Background colors are kewl.

 

I don't think that many people love barcodes or anything, its just that some people have some completionist tendancies or like things that are perceived as more rare.

[valiantman]

Remembering the options for getting comic books when I was a kid, there was a comic book shop (direct editions) in a town 20 minutes away from me. There were also comics at the grocery store (newsstand) in the town where I lived.

 

The grocery store newsstand comics were usually bent forward at the top staple by the edge of the magazine rack or comic spinner rack where they sat to be picked over by every kid that was bored while their parents shopped.

 

If you somehow managed to get an undamaged copy from the grocery store, you still had to figure out how to get the woman at the checkout to keep from grabbing it and slamming it against the barcode reader. Needless to say, my memories were disappointment at the magazine rack and disappointment at the checkout counter. As an adult, I'm actively watching for the books that eluded me as a kid.

 

So, for me, a high grade newsstand comic from the late-1980s to mid-1990s is a reminder of the kind of books I rarely saw when I was a kid.

 

High grade direct editions from the late-1980s to mid-1990s were easy to find. That's how the comic shop sold them, with a nice bag and board for the trip to your collection.

 

But the grocery store was a different story. Damages and disappointment.

 

Newsstand copies were damaged by kids, then they were damaged by adults. Ripping the front cover off the books for a return credit, or just recycling the unsold copies.

 

Jump forward 20 to 30 years...

 

If it wasn't for the barcode, I wouldn't know which was which today... and I wouldn't have any way to match my memories to the books.

[the blob]

High grade direct editions from the late-1980s to mid-1990s were easy to find. That's how the comic shop sold them, with a nice bag and board for the trip to your collection.

---

 

I have never been to a comic shop where the new comics are on the rack with a bag and a board. I'm sure they exist, I've just never seen it.

 

Rack comics at comic shops get mangled just like newstand comics. I see people flipping through the comic rack bending all the time.

 

And the shop I went to in the 80s certainly did not give a bag and board when you bought a comic.

 

Midtown comics doesn't do that now.

 

The difference is file customers should be getting pretty nice stuff, people who come in early on wed should be getting nice copies, and back when shops used to order "extras" to sell as back issues, those should be pretty nice. And a big shop where they replenish the rack... there should be nice copies among the replenished ones. So yeah, definitely should be many more HG copies.

 

But if you were (or are) buying your new comics at a shop on a saturday there is a pretty decent chance they are mangled.

[valiantman]

High grade direct editions from the late-1980s to mid-1990s were easy to find. That's how the comic shop sold them, with a nice bag and board for the trip to your collection.

---

 

I have never been to a comic shop where the new comics are on the rack with a bag and a board. I'm sure they exist, I've just never seen it.

I meant that bags and boards were an option (for the trip to your collection) in the comic shop, and the retailer wasn't grabbing books and slamming them against a barcode reader.

 

The comic shops that I visited were pretty observant about people damaging the books, or standing there and reading the books without paying for them.

 

The grocery store, on the other hand, didn't care about comics at all... and sometimes the books were even wet because the flowers were being misted in the floral area next to the magazine racks.

[Lonzilla]

 

I have never been to a comic shop where the new comics are on the rack with a bag and a board. I'm sure they exist, I've just never seen it.

 

Rack comics at comic shops get mangled just like newstand comics. I see people flipping through the comic rack bending all the time.

 

Ontario St. Comics Philly, every new comic bagged and boarded before they go on the shelves.

One of several reasons why I shop there

[the blob]

 

I have never been to a comic shop where the new comics are on the rack with a bag and a board. I'm sure they exist, I've just never seen it.

 

Rack comics at comic shops get mangled just like newstand comics. I see people flipping through the comic rack bending all the time.

 

Ontario St. Comics Philly, every new comic bagged and boarded before they go on the shelves.

One of several reasons why I shop there

 

Were I ever to lose my mind and open a shop I would probably do it that way. Offer a rebate if you don't want the bag and board. It would drive me absolutely insane to have merchandise mangled on the rack. some obnoxious customer could easily go in and damage hundreds of dollars worth of books and you don't even have to be a grade nut to not want to pay full retail for a book that has been bent in half. bags and boards don't provide total protection, but they're a good start.

[the blob]

High grade direct editions from the late-1980s to mid-1990s were easy to find. That's how the comic shop sold them, with a nice bag and board for the trip to your collection.

---

 

I have never been to a comic shop where the new comics are on the rack with a bag and a board. I'm sure they exist, I've just never seen it.

I meant that bags and boards were an option (for the trip to your collection) in the comic shop, and the retailer wasn't grabbing books and slamming them against a barcode reader.

 

The comic shops that I visited were pretty observant about people damaging the books, or standing there and reading the books without paying for them.

 

The grocery store, on the other hand, didn't care about comics at all... and sometimes the books were even wet because the flowers were being misted in the floral area next to the magazine racks.

 

You're right, of course. The newstands by me (I grew up in NYC) that carried comics actually had them in pretty good shape on the rack. My childhood LCS was kind of creepy and a few blocks further from home so my older brother actually bought a lot of comics at the newsstand (and they would eventually become mine). It was always exciting to whine my father into buying me something, cheapskate that he was extracting even 40 cents out of him was tough.

[kimik]

 

I have never been to a comic shop where the new comics are on the rack with a bag and a board. I'm sure they exist, I've just never seen it.

 

Rack comics at comic shops get mangled just like newstand comics. I see people flipping through the comic rack bending all the time.

 

Ontario St. Comics Philly, every new comic bagged and boarded before they go on the shelves.

One of several reasons why I shop there

 

Were I ever to lose my mind and open a shop I would probably do it that way. Offer a rebate if you don't want the bag and board. It would drive me absolutely insane to have merchandise mangled on the rack. some obnoxious customer could easily go in and damage hundreds of dollars worth of books and you don't even have to be a grade nut to not want to pay full retail for a book that has been bent in half. bags and boards don't provide total protection, but they're a good start.

 

During the height of the early 90s craze one LCS would bag and board hot issues the day of release and price them up at $5+ immediately.

[fastballspecial]

I visited a shop in NC that doubled bagged and boarded every comic in the back issue BINs. They are no longer in business.